WashingtonPost: Abducted French security advisers in Mogadishu posed as journalists

“Two French security advisers posing as journalists were abducted from their hotel in Mogadishu on Tuesday by Somali gunmen, according to the foreign ministry and reports from the chaotic Somali capital,” reports the Washington Post.  Full story at this link…

Related:

• The Frontline Blog ran this post yesterday, updating as news broke.

• The AFP reports that, according to the Somali defence minister, the pair were ‘kidnapped for cash not politics’.

Background from the Frontline:

“The Telegraph’s Colin Freeman and photographer José Cendón were kidnapped and held for six weeks earlier this year. Meanwhile, freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan after still being held hostage after being kidnapped in Mogadishu in August, 2008. Their driver and fixer were released in January, 2009. This new kidnap comes at a time of ‘fresh fighting’ in the north of Mogadishu, although one could argue fighting never really gets the time to go stale in Mogadishu.”

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• Frontline Blog: AFP publishes first reported communication with Lindhout and Brennan since August 2008
• Six months on: Lindhout and Brennan are still held hostage in Somalia
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Media Release: AFP and Getty agree video partnership

Agreement will allow the agencies to market their video footage in English. Agencies already partner on images.

Full release at this link…

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Economist.com: Will newswires learn to live without newspapers?

News agencies are boosting staff numbers, according to this Economist report – is this a sign they can thrive will newspapers struggle?

Full story at this link…

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British and Spanish journalist kidnapping in Somalia – details still to be confirmed

Although reports with additional information are available online, exact details of the journalists kidnapped in Somalia remain unconfirmed. Articles that name the journalists have been removed from various news sites.

BBC yesterday reported:

“A British and Spanish journalist in Somalia have been kidnapped from the north-eastern Puntland region, local authorities say.

“Government officials said the pair were taken from their hotel in the port city of Bossasso.

“(…) the journalists were in Bossasso to cover the story of piracy hijackings off Puntland’s coast. He says the foreigners were abducted by gunmen along with two local reporters.

“‘The two foreigners are British and Spanish,’ Abdulkebir Musa, Puntland’s assistant minister for seaports, told news agency AFP.

“The office of Puntland’s president confirmed this information to the BBC.”

Journalism.co.uk will update when further reports are received from the relevant sources.

Similar posts:

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• Frontline Blog: AFP publishes first reported communication with Lindhout and Brennan since August 2008
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